Fort Ephraim Peace Treaty

The Black Hawk War took its name from Antonga Black Hawk, a Timpanogos Ute war chief, but its roots ran deeper: Mormon farms and herds had overtaken Ute hunting grounds across central Utah, game grew scarce, disease spread, and by the mid-1860s many Ute families were starving. The fighting that began in 1865 emptied whole settlements. Black Hawk himself sought peace from 1867, and in August 1868 a parley gathered at Fort Ephraim, beneath a red cedar on Hans Hansen's lawn — a treaty later ratified in Washington. The Daughters of Utah Pioneers monument marks the ground.

What the plaque says

The Indian War years of 1865-72 brought bitter hardships to Sanpete and other central Utah areas. Different bands of Indians stealthily attacked settlers from their mountain hideouts, then fled to safety. Twenty-seven settlements were evacuated; two entire counties and portions of seven others were temporarily abandoned; seventy pioneers were slain and many wounded; hundreds of cattle and horses stolen. On Aug. 1, 1866, U.S. Indian Supt., Col. H.F. Head and Stake Pres. Orson Hyde obtained promise of peace from Chief Black Hawk. By Aug. 18, 1868, they had accomplished the hazardous feat of assembling a peace parley in Fort Ephraim on Hans Hansen's lawn by a red cedar tree. Black Hawk calmed the defiant braves, a pipe of peace was passed, the treaty was signed and later ratified by U.S. Pres. Andrew Johnson. Black Hawk continued to help arrange peace parleys until other hostile chiefs had signed.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Ephraim Co-op — steps away
  The 1871 cooperative store that outlived the economy it was built to replace
• Ephraim — steps away
  Utah's Little Denmark and the home of Snow College
• Manti Temple — 6.9 mi
  A striking pioneer-era temple crowning a hilltop above the Sanpete Valley
• Manti — 7.2 mi
  Sanpete's first settlement, crowned by an 1888 oolite temple

More markers nearby

• Ephraim Co-op Building — steps away
• Ephraim Carnegie Library — steps away
• Indian Massacre — steps away
• Snow Academy Building — 0.3 mi